Press Room

Dear River Watchers,

At no time in our history has the environment been under siege from so many sources.
Encroaching populations have taken our river's water and replaced them with processed
sewage, acid rain, irrigation runoff containing agricultural pollutants such as pesticides,
and urban runoff containing heavy metals, petrochemicals and other toxins. Cancer
rates, particularly breast cancer, are at epidemic proportions and climbing. Our
beloved rivers once teeming with life are now habitat on the decline. We are living
through what some experts believe to be the greatest mass extinction ever recorded.

Against this background environmental groups like River Watch seek to stem the tide
of governmental inaction, public misinformation and corporate greed. River Watch
is a non-profit citizen based environmental enforcement group dedicated to preserving
and protecting the waters of Northern California. River Watch identifies pollution
and takes action to stop it. River Watch prefers pollution prevention through cooperation
rather than litigation. However, if cooperation fails River Watch brings citizens'
suit to prevent any further harm to our precious environment.

Upon identifying pollution sources, River Watch contacts the polluter regarding
the problem and requests a meeting. If the occurrence involves federal pollution
laws such as the Clean Water Act (which covers pollution discharges to surface waters)
or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (which covers discharges of pollutants
to ground water) River Watch sends the polluter a mandatory intent-to-sue notice
letter containing information identifying River Watch's concerns.

In any action River Watch seeks abatement and remediation of the pollution and polluted
site as well as payment of remediation funds in lieu of statutory penalties. Under
most environmental statutes the law grants both injunctive relief, i.e. stop polluting
and clean it up, and monetary penalties of up to $27,500 per day per violation. Unfortunately
when the government extracts penalties from polluters, the money does not go back
into the environment to redress the harm but into the general treasury. On the other
hand, River Watch is able to have the penalty funds redirected back into the community
in the form of remediation funds designed to redress the harm caused. We are deeply
appreciative of those individuals who love and understand the importance of River
Watch and our role in the protection of Northern California's life-giving rivers.